Board of Directors

Interview with Sheikh Jabor bin Ali bin Jabor Al-Thani

CBQContent

Member of the Board, The Commercial Bank of Qatar

For how many years have you been a Board Member at Commercial Bank?

For six years.

Before that, what business activities were you involved in?

I was working in investment, in stocks and exchange. I own my own construction company and also work in real estate. I worked for 15 years in the municipal government, in land management. Most Qataris, especially graduates, receive free land from the government so they can buy a new house. Most people in Qatar work in the government to meet people, to know more about how business works.

Doesn’t that make things rather easy for Qataris? Does it help them to become competitive?

For sure. They feel more stable.

How has your experience as a Director of the Bank differed from your experience in municipal government?

Being part of the Bank’s board has nothing to do with the Municipality; it’s a totally different experience. It opens your mind. You see so many investments and so many interesting things coming to Doha.

What makes Commercial Bank special?

Commercial Bank was built on trust between friends. The main people who built this were Hussain Alfardan, Sheikh Ali and Khalifa bin Abdullah Al-Attiyah (the father of H. E. Abdullah bin Khalifa Al-Attiyah, the current Chairman) and others. It was like a family business because they were very close friends.

At the beginning, they took care to treat their special customers well. They wanted quality, not just to open a bank and get more money – quality customers and quality companies. Even now, with the Bank getting bigger and bigger, people in Doha know that Commercial Bank is a quality bank. They give their customers more services. For customer service here in Doha, some people consider it to be number one. This is what has kept the Bank expanding.